Rare Antique Plate Bowl Majolica Nishapur Kurasan Kashan Ceramics 9-12th century

Description: Important and beautifully decorated museum quality IX - XII century hand made conical form on short cylindrical base bowl featuring the phoenix bird. Originates from the ancient city of Nishapur (a few miles from the modern city of Nishapur in North-Eastern Iran), in the kingdom of Kurasan (Khurasan or Khorasan), that covered the territory of the modern states of Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan. The bowl's main design feature is the phoenix bird. Its head, wings outlines and tail are painted lapis blue. The body is light blue. The wings are beige brown, as are the flames above the wings and the head. Attached to the flame on the right is the four clove leaf. Similar leafs are seen on a Nishapur bowl from the collection of the MET (see the photograph). The central roundel is coloured milky white, whilst the wide rim is made in the contrasting black color and features two bands of repeating design patterns. The inner pattern is commonly featured in other bowls of the period (see the photograph), from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts. The outer pattern looks like a royal crown. The tip of the rim is decorated with repeating brown triangles. The outside is milky white. Item attribution. I purchased this bowl together with another one, in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2008. They had five of these bowls on the display, did not know what these were and only told that they were old. I could only afford two, so I picked the best ones. Despite numerous researches I made trying to attribute the plates, it wasn't until 2017 that I saw an array of very similar bowls in the Metropolitan Museum of Arts. I learned that the MET Museum did the excavations in the Nishapur area in Iran in 1935 - 1940, they kept half of the finds and displayed a lot in the museum. More than that, I later discovered that one of the members of the Metropolitan museum expedition, Charles K. Wilkinson, wrote the whole book about the ceramic findings of this expedition (please see the last photograph), and provided ample photographs of the exhibits, and this book appeared to be in the free access on the museum website. For which I extremely grateful to the MET Museum. This bowl has the three marks forming the right triangle in the middle of the bowl (marked in yellow circles on the photograph), left by tripod-like stilts used to prevent the bowls from sticking together during the firing process. This is a unique feature of the Nishapur pottery of the period. The bird was an important design element in the Nishapur ceramic culture, as is seen from many surviving examples (see the photograph). Finally the shape of the bowl - conical shape slightly opening towards to top, short cylindrical base and the size of the bowl is identical to the MET objects (see the photograph). The bowl is in a perfect condition given its more than a thousand years age. The body is intact, no chips. Multiple damage to the glaze, cracking all over.Numerous small chips to the rim, three marks in the middle of the bowl. Diameter 23,5 cm / 9,4 inHeight 9 cm / 3,6 inWeight 580 g / 1,3 lb Thank you for shopping! Check out my other items: - 19th century European decorative ceramics - vases, center tables, plates, cachepots and jardinieres- Ancient Decorative Plates and bowls- Iznik, Kutahya Ottoman Empire vases and decorative vessels- Westerwald Vases and Ewers- Karl Ens birds figurines- A variety of other manufacturers birds figurines- Vintage wall shelves, perfect for displaying your birds collection- Other antique, vintage and decorative art items Please add me to your favourites list as I continuously add new items for sale, you will also learn about special offers! Item appearance and description Condition corresponds to the photos of the item. I only use the images of the of the items I sell herein. Please study the photos as they are part of the description. Despite trying to be as thorough as possible, there may be discrepancies not noted. All items are sold AS IS. The item sold in this listing is not new manufacture, is antique or vintage, it is pre-owned and expected to show signs of age, use and wear, consistent with its age. I aim to provide correct description to all and picture them in their current condition at the time of sale and based on the research of publicly available information about the item. In case of queries please email me through eBay, I will be happy to answer your questions related to this listing. Shipping and taxes I ship only to the approved address registered on eBay. I do combined shipping whenever possible. Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Handling time I will do my best to ship the item as soon as possible, but reserve the right to ship within the next 3 business days after receipt of a cleared payment. Returns Returns are accepted within 30 days from item receipt. Refunds will be made after return of the item in original condition. If you return your purchase you will be responsible for the cost of shipping it back to me. You will be refunded the purchase price less the outbound shipping cost and a 15% restocking fee as permitted by eBay Seller Rules. I guarantee that you will receive the exact item pictured in this listing, and that I package all of my items carefully to ensure that they arrive to you safely. If you receive an item damaged in the mail, please do not attempt to return the item. Should the damage occur despite my careful packaging, this must be handled through the shipping agent with an insurance claim. I will be happy to assist with it. 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Price: 3499.99 USD

Location: Kyiv

End Time: 2025-01-20T10:03:13.000Z

Shipping Cost: 148 USD